Hand-held atomizer especially for dispensing inhalation-administered medicaments

ABSTRACT

A hand-held aerosol dispenser, especially for medicament in the treatment of disorders requiring inhalation such as asthma, comprises a housing formed with a receptacle for the medicament and an electrically powered ultrasonic nebulizer for atomizing the liquid medicament. The housing receives a replaceable cassette or cartridge-type battery for energizing the control circuit. The housing has a compartment for enabling easy replacement of the battery and a simply opening and closing valve, from which the mist is discharged, is provided.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

My present invention relates to a dispenser for an atomized or nebulizedliquid and, more particularly, to a hand-held dispenser for medicamentsto be administered by inhalation such as those used in the treatment ofasthma and in prophylaxis against asthma attacks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Aserosol dispensers have been provided heretofore in a wide variety ofconfigurations for distributing or concentrating a fine mist of aliquid, such as a medicament which can be used in the treatment ofillnesses responding to inhalation administration of medicaments.

In the treatment of asthma, for example, there are many liquidmedicaments which are administered by inhalation techniques and areintended to be taken in by mouth or nasal inhalation to penetrate thelugs and bronchial system of the patient.

In very early technology of this type, the aerosol dispenser was usuallya glass flask to which a bulb was affixed to drive a stream of airthrough an outlet, the medicament being drawn by, for example, venturiaction into this stream, for atomization and distribution in finelydivided form to produce the aerosol or mist. In more modern inhalationtherapy, spray packages have been provided of small size so that theycan readily be held in the hand of the user, the liquid medicament beingcombined in the package with a propellant usually a freon, which isretained under pressure until a button-operated valve is depressed todischarge a predetermined quantity of the aerosol or a continuous streamthereof.

While these systems have proved to be effective in carrying themedicament to the far reaches of the respiratory system, they havecertain disadvantages which limited their applicability.

The inhaled propellant tends to remain as a residual gas in the lungs.It has been found, for example, that during the inhalation phase, thispropellant mixes with ambient air and is drawn through the respiratorytract to the alveolae and, because of the greater density of thepropellant, a portion of the propellant tends to remain when the air isexhaled during the next phase of the respiration cycle. The accumulationof the heavier propellant in the lungs of the patient has been found tobe disadvantageous because it can cause damage to the lungs which, inmany cases, is a defective organ in the patients who require treatmentby inhalation threapy, such as asthmatics.

Modern inhalators and aerosol medicament dispensers have also beenprovided with spraying pumps which are actuated by the hand of the userand generally are of the plunger type. In such systems, when the patientdepresses the actuating knob or button, he operates the pump to drive aportion of the liquid through an atomizing passage.

A disadvantage of the latter system is that the actuation of the deviceno longer is as simple as those using a readily operated valve.Furthermore, the operation of the device requires not only significantskill but also considerable effort which frequently cannot be exerted bya seriously ill patient or one in the throes of a significant asthmaattack. When the device is improperly operated or operated withinsufficient pressure, and frequently when the device is properlyoperated, the particle size of the liquid in the mist or aerosol isinsufficiently fine to permit entrainment to the far reaches of therespiratory tract.

Attempts have been made to improve upon both types of systems, asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,950, by connecting the aerosol valvewith a guide tube or mouthpiece intended to carry the aerosol into themouth of the user. However, when the aerosol utilizes a propellant, thedisadvantages noted above result and when the aerosol generator is ofthe pump type, the problems of these systems are multiplied by theprovision of the additional tube since the larger aerosol particles inpart collect on the wall of the tube.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide ahand-held dispenser for aerosols which will avoid the disadvantages ofearlier systems and which can provide improved administration ofinhalation liquids far patients requiring same.

Another object of this invention is to provide an easily operatedhand-held aerosol medicament dispenser which is comfortable to hold,easily stored in the pocket of the user and can be operated withoutundue force or effort to provide an aerosol containing liquid particlesin extremely finely divided form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These objects and other which will become more readily apparenthereinafter are attained, in accordance with the present invention, inan aerosol dispenser in the form of a housing receiving a receptacle forthe liquid to be nebulized, a readily manipulatable closure or valvesealing this receptacle in one position and permitting the dischargingof the aerosol in another, an electrically powered ultrasonic nebulizeron the housing for generating the aerosol from the liquid, and acassette or cartridge-type readily removable and replaceable electricpowered source such as a battery which is connected through circuitry inthe housing to the ultrasonic nebulizer.

The apparatus of the present invention thus can be provided with areadily manipulatable valve which need not sustain an elevated pressuresince the aerosol is generated by ultrasonic action (vibration) withoutthe development of an elevated pressure and the valve serves merely toseal the aerosol or liquid chamber in one position and to open a passagefor the aerosol in another position. The liquid-receiving portion of thehousing can have a removable cover affording access to the vessel whichcan contain sufficient liquid for the needs of the patient for a givenperiod, say one day. The device is designed to enable the patienthimself, without effort to introduce an appropriate quantity of themedicament. After the readily operated closure for this vessel is shut,the operator can insert the cassette-shaped battery which may also havesufficient power for a correspondingly operating duration, for example,one day, the battery being replaceable and preferably recharged, e.g.overnight. The circuitry can include a switch connected between thebattery and the ultrasonic nebulizer which can be operatedsimultaneously with the valve or operated after the valve has beenopened.

Advantageously, the housing is a flat generally rectangular structure sothat it can be readily inserted in a pocket and easily held by the user,the receptacle or vessel and its discharge valve being provided at oneend of the housing, while the battery is provided at the other endthereof.

This configuration allows the device to be handled most comfortably andits operation to be monitored easily. The medicament-containing phial ispreferably composed of glass and is engageable by formations on thehousing, preferably circumferentially. The glass vessel provides inertsurfaces in contact with the medicament and is highly effective for bothstorage and dispensing or nebulizing the liquid.

The nebulizer portion of the housing is provided at its bottom with anultrasonic transducer in the form of a vibrating plate, the upper end ofthe nebulizing compartment being formed with the readily removableclosure formed with the aerosol outlet.

The opposing relationship of the ultrasonic vibrator and the aerosoloutlet have been found to be most effective in generating the aerosoland facilitating use thereof in an appropriate orientation of thedispenser. The dispenser, more particularly, can be used withoutexcessive inspection or thinking even in emergency situations by apatient who may not be fully conscious of the manipulative processrequired for operating the device.

The readily operated valve may be provided on a cap which can be fittedinto the outlet opening of the nebulizer compartment so that, uponfilling of the compartment or the vessel, this closure can be fullyremoved to provide a large opening. The valve is operated, however, withthe cap in place for dispensing of the aerosol.

The valve is advantageously provided with an automatic openingmechanism, for example, a spring which biases the movable valve memberinto its "open" position, this member being engaged by a detent toretain it in its "closed" position against the force of the spring. Thevalve member thus jumps into its open position upon release of thedetent for which a manual actuator can be provided. This arrangementseals the phial against leakage in any position of the unit so that itcan be readily inserted and carried in the pocket.

According to another feature of the invention, the readily operatedvalve can be formed with a discharge tube or mouthpiece which can beunitary with the movable valve member and can facilitate the inhalationof the aerosol. It has been found to be advantageous, in this respect,to provide the mouthpiece with an additional passage communicating withthe atmosphere and whereby air can be drawn into the mouth of the userthrough the liquid to be nebulized.

To avoid undesired operation of the unit it has been found to beadvantageous to form the switch or the switch actuator as a recessedmember in the wall of the housing with the member being shiftable withlight pressure.

The power source of the present invention is a cassette-typerechargeable battery or seal which can have a rectangularparallelpipedal relationship and can be received in a socket-formingportion of the housing. The battery, as noted, can be charged when thedevice is not required, e.g. overnight, or the unit can be supplied withtwo interchangeable cassette-type batteries, one of which can be mountedin the unit for use while the other is being charged and vice versa.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the followingdescription, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an aerosol dispenser according to theinvention with the end portions taken in section along line I--I of FIG.2, and with the battery cartridge shown withdrawn from the right-handside;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II--II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation generally along the line III--III ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view along the line IV--IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a detail cross section through the closure of the instantinvention in its closed position; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 in the open position of the mouth.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

The aerosol dispenser shown in the drawing at 10 is provided with aremovable and replaceable current source 11 in the form of a cassette orcartridge-type rechargeable battery which can be inserted into thesocket-forming end 12 of the housing 13 of the unit.

One end of the battery cartridge is provided with a knurled rib 14 whichis on one of the cartridges exposed when the battery is fully inserted(compare FIGS. 1 and 3).

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the bead 14 forms a grip which can bereadily engaged by the user to enable withdrawal of the battery and itsreplacement by a freshly charged one.

In order to retain the battery 11 in the housing, the socket-formingportion 12 is provided with a plurality of retaining springs 15 whichmay be bent from the wall materials of the socket portion inwardly,these detents 15 engaging in corresponding openings 16 on the bottom andtop sides of the battery cartridge. The battery cartridge 11 is alsoprovided with contacts 17 which can be of blade or knob configurationand constitute terminals against which spring contacts 18 of the housingbear when the battery cartridge is fully inserted.

The housing 13 is also formed with an electric circuit which has beenrepresented diagrammatically at 19 in FIG. 1 and which connects thecontacts 18 to the ultrasonic transducer or vibrating plate 21 at thebottom of the ultrasonic nebulizing chamber 20 formed at the oppositeend of the housing 13.

The plate 21 is engaged by the bottom of a liquid-containing nebulizingvessel 22 in the form of a glass or plastic phial and which is closed atits upper end by a cap 23 which also closes the nebulizing chamber 20.The cap 23 can hermetically seal the latter chamber so that medicamentscan be stored therein without danger for long periods, e.g. in units ofdaily dosage.

As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, the closure cap 23 has an apron 23'which can hug the upper lip 22' of the glass phial 22 and, the upperportion of the cap being provided with a cylindrical pivot socket 24 inwhich the cylindrical valve member 26 is rotatable. The latter is formedon a mouthpiece 25 and is provided with a passage 26' communicating withthe passage 25' of this mouthpiece. In the position shown in FIG. 5, thevalve member 26 plugs the passage 26' and hence seals off the phial.This position corresponds to that shown in FIG. 1.

In the position illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, however, the passage 26'is unblocked and establishes communication with the interior of thenebulizing vessel 22. In this upright position of the valve member, arecess 27 in the underside of this member 26 establishes communicationbetween an air inlet tube 28 and the ambient atmosphere so that air canbe drawn into the nebulizing vessel.

For rapid opening of the valve 24-26, an opening spring 29 (FIG. 1) isprovided, this spring being anchored in the cap 23-24 which receives thephial 22 and bears upon the mouthpiece 25 biasing it into the positionshown in 26. The mouthpiece 25 can be held against the force of thespring in its closed position by a retaining latch 30 having anactuating pin or lug 31 which enables the latch to be drawn slightlylaterally (away from the viewer in the FIG. 1 and toward the viewer inFIG. 3) to release the mouthpiece and allow it to swing into its openposition out of a recess 13' formed in the top of the housing.

The switch 32' of the circuit, shown only diagrammatically in FIG. 1, isactuated by a pushbutton 32 which is shown to be slightly recessed belowa cylindrical boss 33 in a lateral wall of the housing 13 so that thispushbutton can be readily actuated by a finger, e.g. the thumb, withoutthe danger that the button will be depressed when the unit is in theuser's pocket.

To operate the device, the user first inserts a charged battery 11 intothe socket 12 of the housing. As has been observed previously, the unitis distributed with two such batteries which are interchangeable, one ofwhich being charged while the other is used.

The cap 23 is withdrawn and phial 22 of the medicament is inserted orfilled with the desired quantity of the liquid, the cap being composedof yieldable synthetic resin material so that it can be pressed tightlyonto the phial 22 and yet readily removed therefrom. The cap is thenreplaced and the valve 25, 26 latched in its closed position.

The user, as need arises, then actuates the latch 30, 31 to release thevalve which presses into the position shown in FIG. 6 and inserts themouthpiece 25 between his lips, draws a breath and simultaneouslypresses the pushbutton 32.

The ultrasonic transducer transforms the liquid entrained by the airdrawn in by the tube 28 into an aerosol which is inhaled.

When the desired quantity of the medicament has been taken in, thepushbutton 32 is released and the valve 25, 26 again latched in itsclosed position. The unit can be replaced in the user's pocket and theprocedure can be repeated until the vessel 22 is empty.

While the preferred and best mode embodiment of the invention providesthe cartridge-shaped battery so that it fits into the back of thehousing, the housing can be made to receive the cassette-type batterylaterally, i.e. through an opening in one of the broad walls of thehousing.

I claim:
 1. A hand-held aerosol dispenser, especially for medicaments ininhalant therapy, comprising:a housing formed with a compartment havingan open upper end, receptacle means mounted in said compartment forholding a quantity of liquid to be converted into an aerosol and havingan aerosol outlet; an easily manipulated closure means mounted on saidhousing for covering said open upper end and for opening and closingsaid aerosol outlet; an electrically operated ultrasonic nebulizeroperatively associated with said receptacle means for generating anaerosol of said liquid therein; a removable cartridge-type batteryreceived in said housing for forming an electrical current source; andcircuitry means in said housing connecting said source with saidultrasonic nebulizer, said receptacle means being a phial enclosed by awall of said housing, said wall forming said compartment at an end ofsaid housing remote from said battery, said closure means including acap sealingly engaging with said open upper end of said compartment andwith said open upper end of said compartment and with said aerosoloutlet of said phial and having a closure member therein for opening andclosing said aerosol outlet said housing being formed with a socketreceiving said battery.
 2. The dispenser defined in claim 1 wherein saidultrasonic nebulizer is an ultrasonic vibrating plate provided in saidreceptacle means at a side thereof opposite said cap.
 3. The dispenserdefined in claim 2 wherein said closure member in said cap is providedwith said outlet passageway extending therethrough.
 4. The dispenserdefined in claim 3 wherein said closure member in said cap is aswingable valve member formed with said outlet passageway therethroughand displaceable between a position blocking communication between saidaerosol outlet of said phial and said outlet passageway and anotherposition opening communication between said aerosol outlet of said phialand said outlet passageway, and said dispenser further comprising meansbiasing said valve from said blocking position to said other positionand manually operable detent means engageable with said valve forreleasably retaining same in said blocking position.
 5. The dispenserdefined in claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 or claim 6 wherein said outletpassageway is formed with a mouthpiece receivable between the lips ofthe user.
 6. The dispenser defined in claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 or claim6 wherein an air inlet tube extending into said phial is provided toenable air to be drawn through said liquid.
 7. The dispenser defined inclaim 1, claim 2, claim 3 or claim 6 wherein said circuit means includesa switch, said housing being provided with a pushbutton for operatingsaid switch and slightly recessed to enable storage of the dispenser inthe pocket of the user without the danger of switch actuation.
 8. Thedispenser defined in claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4 wherein saidbattery is a rechargeable battery.